Are you using digital technology (i.e. standalone technology products, smartphones, online games, data management systems, cloud computing, VR/AR, 3D printing, and big data analytics, etc.) to advance education access and outcomes for marginalised learners? If so, Theirworld could help you take your project to the next level.
We’re looking for up to 10 high-potential non-profits who are ready to scale their innovations through our Education Innovation Awards programme.
Winners receive support to grow via specialised technology expertise, leadership coaching, masterclass training sessions, one-to-one mentoring and a grant of up to £50,000 each.
In 2026, we especially welcome applications from organisations working on:
While we will not accept projects using student and teacher data in artificial intelligence systems in this cohort, we hope to assess AI-based applications in 2027.
If your organisation is a registered non-profit organisation and have you reached at least 2,000 learners with your innovation in the past year, we want to hear from you.
The award is designed to help you develop your pilot, invest in evaluation and complete other activities to prepare for scale-up while providing expertise and insights to make reaching more learners a reality. Our programme will:
Up to 10 winners will benefit from our accelerator-style programme, combining essential elements to help your project grow:
• Masterclass training sessions.
• One-to-one and/or group mentoring.
• A grant of up to £50,000 per organisation.
• Personalised sessions with a professional scaling coach.
To apply for the Education Innovation Awards 2026, your innovation must meet the criteria outlined in this document. For this cohort, we are especially looking for organisations that use digital technology to make a direct impact on learning outcomes, via students, teachers, and/or caregivers.
While projects can come from any country, we will prioritise applications that have impact in, or intend to scale to, one or more countries where we have existing projects.
We prioritise applications from community-led organisations:
Does it sound like your project would be a good fit? Start your application now by taking five minutes to complete the eligibility check.
The Education Innovation Awards support pilot-stage grantees to make their innovations scale-ready, by building their skills and capacity through introductory classes, masterclasses, mentoring, coaching, and scale-ready grants. We are currently recruiting for the sixth cohort of the Awards.
The process is simple:
Shortlisted applicants may be invited for a short online interview.
The application form should take 1-2 hours to complete, and you will be asked to accept our privacy policy and terms and conditions (including a safeguarding policy). You will also be asked to submit a detailed budget. If you are shortlisted, you will need to provide supporting documentation including your latest annual report and audited accounts.
To apply for the Education Innovation Awards 2026, your innovation should meet the criteria outlined in this document.
Once applications have closed, a Theirworld selection panel will evaluate the eligible applications. They will use the eligibility criteria and programme objectives to shortlist the Awards winners, which will be reviewed and approved by Theirworld Trustees.
The masterclasses and bespoke mentoring will set up your innovation for a successful scaleup through capacity and skills building.
The masterclasses are intensive workshops to prepare your team to create and deliver a strong, thoughtful and focused scale-up strategy, providing an in-depth understanding of organisational development, stress-testing solutions, partnerships and other core building blocks for successful scale-up.
The masterclasses will be complemented by one-to-one mentoring for each team, designed according to the team’s needs.
The CEO or leader of each organisation will also receive leadership coaching to help develop their leadership mindset and skills.
Theirworld aims to award these scale-ready grants to non-profits looking to scale up their promising pilot-stage innovations and reach their full potential.
The grants must go towards getting the winning innovation ready to grow and the costs directly associated with increasing the reach of this project. Our grants are programme funding. This means they must be used to implement and enhance your project. Personnel costs can be included, where relevant to your scale-up. Evidence generation has been proven as one of the key components of successful scale-up. We therefore recommend that you allocate at least 15-20% of the grant to external evaluation activities that build evidence that your innovation works.
The costs will differ between organisations, but during the application process and scale-up strategy you will be asked to define what your organisation would like to spend the scale-ready grant on.
Overwhelmingly, innovation teams and leadership in our first five cohorts have enjoyed and learned from the programme. One year after the programme began, all teams in Cohort 1 were on track to meet their scaling goals. Some in Cohort 2 have even exceeded their projections.
Organisations we work with highly value our collaborative approach, flexibility and our shared purpose.
We believe these Awards help to fill a global gap in support and financing that is holding back big change in education. We want to unleash your potential and help you grow.
We see these Education Innovation Awards winners as a critical investment in your scaling journey and the future impact that the innovation can have.
Through being involved in this programme, Awards winners will benefit from exposure via Theirworld’s public communications and internal networks. Awards winners will also have the opportunity to present their innovations and scale-up plans to an audience of supporters at the end of the programme.
When you graduate from the masterclasses and mentoring, you will have a clear case for fundraising to grow your innovation.
We offer a combination of 1-1 and group mentoring. Our scale-up experts and a monitoring and evaluation specialist will be your main mentors. They will work with you regularly to review how your plans are progressing and identify further support needs. Where you need specialised support in particular areas, we will explore how any of the members of the Theirworld and Global Business Coalition for Education networks might be able to help us support you. We will guide you to get the most out of the mentoring opportunity and ensure high quality.
While projects can come from any country, we will prioritise applications that have impact in, or intend to scale to, one or more countries where we have existing projects (see map: https://theirworld.org/projects/).
We prioritise applications from community-led organisations which are:
These programmes will be delivered online. Resources will be made available to participants in advance of the sessions. Recordings of all masterclasses and mentoring sessions will be provided afterwards. Coaching sessions remain confidential.
If you have any questions about the Awards or the application, you can reach out to Theirworld’s Innovation Team at innovation@theirworld.org.
All organisations who meet the eligibility criteria are welcome to apply. Our first priority is to ensure the safety of all individuals involved in the programme. If you are selected for an Innovation Award and do not wish to have your award publicised, we will ensure the name and details of your organisation are not used publicly.
Scaling up means increasing the breadth and/or depth of the benefit from a project. This can mean more people benefiting, and/or widening the scope to deepen the benefit to those people. We hope that, over time, our Award winners will reach millions of learners and help improve education systems around the world.
When we ask how many people your innovation has reached, we refer to people directly impacted by your programme. This can include learners, caregivers and educators. If your reach includes other target groups in addition to the above, please let us know in your application.
When we ask about reach, we want to know about the people you directly benefit. You can also tell us your indirect reach separately if that is relevant to your application – for example, you can include indirect reach in fields where we ask you to describe your innovation, or what evidence you have for your innovation’s impact.
You are still welcome to join our education innovation mailing list to stay in touch.
We will let you know via the mailing list if any future opportunities arise. Meanwhile, if you know someone else who would be a good fit, please share the opportunity with them!
If you know someone who would be a good fit, please share the opportunity with them.
